User:JBecker370/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article
This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.


 * AP World History: Modern
 * I have chosen this article, as I am an Education major focusing on History, so I thought this article would be a useful article to evaluate.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Lead evaluation
The lead for the article does include a informative introductory sentence, describing what an AP World History course is about. The lead does not describe the different sections that will be discussed in the article, however there is a table of contents with each of the major sections listed in there occurring order. Information that is covered in the lead section, is covered in the article itself, although there are parts of the article that wasn't included in the lead. The lead is concise, but could use more detail to tie it in with the full article.

The lead is a short and concise introduction to the article, where it describes the AP World History exams in high schools, and how they are changing. More could be written however, when it comes to describing what is included in the article, as the lead doesn't fully introduce the article to the reader.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
 * Is the content up-to-date?
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?

Content evaluation
The information found in the course relates to the topic, as it discusses the AP World History exam that is given to high school students. This article is not up-to-date, as it has some content that needs to be verified and edited. There needs to be citations for various sections of the article, as there is no identification of where the information in the article came from.

Although the content in the article relates to the lead, the content in the article needs work, as it lacks citations for much of the information that is in the article.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral?
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Tone and balance evaluation
The article is a neutral article, as it doesn't give any personal thought or feelings on the subject. As the article is neutral, there is no biased information, or viewpoints that are skewed, and the article doesn't try to persuade the reader in any way.

The article is informational, with no sides being taken. The article is neutral explaining AP World History exams.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
 * Are the sources current?
 * Check a few links. Do they work?

Sources and references evaluation
Not all facts in the article are cited with sources. Sources in the article is few and far between. The facts that are cited however, seem to be from a secondary source that is a reliable source. The sources that are used in the article do show some of the available information that is out there on the topic. The sources are current, as they were published within the last decade. The links do work.

The sources used in the article are relevant to the topic and work. However, it seems like some sourcing still needs to be added.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Organization evaluation
The article is easy to read, as it is written in a format that is organized. The article does have some spelling errors, and it seems to have some fragmented sentences, or run on sentences. The article is organized by topic, explaining the main point in the beginning and focusing on each topic individually, while still making each topic relate to one another.

The article is organized well in terms of breaking the article down into topics, to gain the bigger picture. However, some spelling and grammar need to be fixed, for a smoother, flowing article.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
 * Are images well-captioned?
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

Images and media evaluation
The article includes graphs to help explain the AP World History exam, by breaking down each of the different sections of the exam. There is another graph to show the different scores students can get and how much each score is worth percentage wise. The graphs are well captioned as each graph has a few sentences describing the graph and what the information in each graph means in relation to the exam. As all of the information in the graphs are readily available from each source, it is free domain, which doesn't violate the copyright policy from Wikipedia.

Images are clear, and well laid out for easy evaluation. There is a description of what the information in graph is about, where a good concise informational heading is provided for each graph.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Talk page evaluation
There are no conversations taking place on the articles talk page. There is a description by the author about the citing of the sources from early this year, but that is it. The article is not currently rated, and it is part of a WikiProject on Education. As this project is about education and history, we have not discussed this topic in class.

Very little information about what is being done to the page to further improve it. Little to no information about how well the page is itself.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status?
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * How can the article be improved?
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

Overall evaluation
The article is still very much a work in progress. The article is good as it is concise and all the information provided in the article is related to the topic at hand. It can be improved however, by providing more sources, improving its grammar and spelling and overall coherence. This article is definitely underdeveloped, however, the author is off to a good start.

Optional activity

 * Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback

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